Month: December 2019

The half way hold – Strength Mobility

The tip of the wave can be sharp and as such we tend to avoid it.

Fighting can be a clash if we ignore the tip of the wave in our training.

Here is a hold which is not fun in the beginning but builds a lot of staying power and connective tissue strength and that allows us grace and power in conflict application and in life.

Place yourself in the push up position and on your fists.

Lower yourself so your elbow joints are at ninety degrees and your wrists are straight as your back.

Breathe and count your breaths until your reach 300.

That is it.

Repeat this a few times a week and modify for your needs as you wish.

One modification I enjoy is using one hand at a time so the body learns to balance more and spread the needed tension throughout.

The work is a reward.

Stand straight and smile

There are many ways to correct things. One of the best is to show that there is an alternative to an imbalance.

We hurt in the shoulders neck and back due to posture and movement and more. To heal it, we begin in alignment and how to heal movement patterns from the base.

Begin in sitting on your behind and placing your hands at the sides of the body. Raise the knees up and keep the body from the knees to the shoulders parallel to the ground for 30 breaths and relax down. This is a start in reclaiming your balance of muscle activation back.

Continue to the same hold only with body straight from the ankles all the way to the shoulders with just the hands and heels touching the ground.

Continue to the same hold only with palms facing away from the body for the same amount of breaths.

Continue to placing a sliding surface under your heels ( a plastic box on a rug or an expensive exercise device, you decide and with each inhale, push up to the straight hold and relax down on the exhale. Repeat 60 times.

There is very little our bodies cannot do with the right guidance and care. Care for your body and 🙂 Come to my class.

The education of a young man

Each week I take my son on a field trip. We explore the gardens and fields and find new and old friends to play with.

This week, he wanted to play with the pigeons so we went through the process of hunting together.

He attempted to run at them and catch them at first with no success and when he asked we began the process.

We scouted for some crumbs and started scattering them for the birds. They came but never close enough to reach.

Then we squatted silently and the birds came closer but still out of reach.

We talked and I told my son to think like a rock. Be the rock and just breathe. Now the birds came at arms length.

Attempts to grab the birds were always fruitless. The birds seemed to know the grab was coming. When he asked, we moved deeper. “Don’t wait for the thought my son” I said “Act as the thought comes in your head.” I showed how to grab the birds gently so they are not alarmed and as he saw this, he became one with himself for a moment. From catching air, he went to touching and holding the birds who did not run away. This is a simple example of the Japanese mu-shin, the thought no thought. I interpret this principle as being one with yourself and having no gap between the parts of the whole.

After the bird hunt, we lit a fire floating on water using a knife, fire-steel, a few dry leaves and one green leaf floating in a basin of rock.

Keep the art in the Dojo and it is no art at all.

The dancing plank

There is a special place in hell for boring work.

One of the most boring drill there are is the plank hold. Let’s put music and rhythm back into it. 🙂

Place yourself in the plank of your choice.

Start dancing within the plank.

Suggestions:

  1. Walking with your limbs to the tempo
  2. Turning your hips side to side to the tempo
  3. Twisting your neck and shoulders to the tempo
  4. Turning from facing down to facing up
  5. Jumping all limbs in the air
  6. Shaking your limbs in the air
  7. All of the above together.

Music suggestions:

Have fun, Strong fun 🙂